First Contact
by Princess Golux
Summary: [Complete!] Maintain The Right 2 - SG-1 stumbles into a trap meant for Fraser and Ray. (Crossover with Due South & MUncle)
1. Sugar to Shit

**Title:**First Contact****

**Author:** princess golux****

**Fandom:** Due South/Stargate SG-1/MfU****

**Pairing:** F/K, N/I (other pairings will be revealed later in the series)****

**Type:** Slash, AU, Action-Adventure, Crossover****

**Series:** Maintain The Right #2****

**Warnings:** Strong language, violence****

**Spoilers:** This is wildly AU so I don't think so. References to "The Tok'Ra"****

**Disclaimer:** Most of these characters are not mine they belong to their respective production companies. All original characters (Trev'van & Shir, Oric & Vosk, etc.) ARE mine and I take full blame for them. I am making no money on this. At all.****

**Notes:** I'm inventing a whole Ônother revolt against the Go'auld. Everything will be explained, I promise. The term "auto-doc" and the idea of having them on scout ships, I lifted from the Liaden novels, then scrambled the idea with SG-1 technology. This is the beginning of a fairly long series. For an explanation of how Fraser and Ray ended up with symbiotes, see **_The Seeing Red Affair_**. It's the set-up & prequel to the whole series. It's posted in the **_Due South_** section of FF.net.****

**---------------------------------------------**

**First Contact **

Oric waited for the Stargate to engage, heart pounding. He'd locked the doors to the Gate chamber scant moments before, but even though the mother ship was running with a pared-down skeleton crew there was always a chance of detection. He gripped his staff weapon tightly as one by one four figures emerged from the event horizon. All wore black; one carried a staff and the other three carried the strange weapons favored by the Tauri. Still, caution ruled his actions; he remained hidden until the Stargate disengaged.

He sized up the intruders; they matched the description he'd been given. One older Tauri male, brown hair graying, keen brown eyes searching his surroundings with fierce concentration. One younger male, soft blue eyes peering through glasses, hair just a touch longer than most warriors would dare. That one bore a small Tauri weapon and a zatn'kitel. One Tauri female, hair blazing yellow under her black cap. And a large dark-skinned Jaffa warrior bearing the gold First Prime mark of Apophis, who could be none other that the infamous renegade, Teal'c.

"I will die free." Oric vocalized the ritual greeting just loud enough to be heard by Teal'c and the nearest Tauri, the well-formed female warrior. She whirled and he caught a glimpse of bright blue eyes before the large bulk of Teal'c interposed himself between them. Teal'c returned his greeting and Oric was suffused with pride as his arm was gripped firmly, warrior to warrior. He struck his heart with his fist, saluting the older Jaffa.

"Greetings, Teal'c, hope of the Jaffa." he said gravely. Privately, despite the danger, Oric was proud to be useful to the cause; he felt older than his relatively young 40 years of age. He introduced himself.

"I am Oric. Master Bra'tec has asked me to assist you."

Teal'c smiled at him and returned the salute. Oric was struck by the older Jaffa's elegance, even in such small gestures. He had not expected a warrior of this reputation to be so effortlessly graceful.

"I thank you for your aid, Oric." Teal'c said, pitching his voice no louder than Oric's. "I am Teal'c of Chulak. These are my comrades in our struggle. Colonel O'Neill, MajorCarter, and DanielJackson."

Colonel O'Neill was the older Tauri male, DanielJackson the younger. MajorCarter was the female, who flashed a brief smile at him. Oric nodded his head to each in turn, projecting a sense of urgency that he hoped would obviate the unintended insult of not greeting each of Teal'c's friends with the same sense of ceremony that he'd offered the other Jaffa. To be certain, he began talking even as he acknowledged the three Tauri.

"We must make haste, honored Teal'c." he said, suiting his actions to his words and moving to unlock the Gate room door. "None of the Jaffa on board knows anything about our current mission except Vosk, First Prime of Nergal. Everyone is curious, everyone seeks information. Although the crew is small and spread out, all eyes are exceptionally keen and all ears are pricked. I feel that we may quickly be running out of time."

"Where are they holding our people?" Teal'c asked.

"Down in the slave hold." Oric replied. "All the rebel Jaffa captured in this raid were placed with the slaves." He knew his eyes were grave. He felt a moment of shame that he could not be of greater assistance, but with the tight schedule necessitated by such a small crew, he dared not be missed. "Go down two levels and continue on the eastern curve. The hold is accessible by both sides, but the guard on the east is Vosk's kin. He is slothful and proud and will not notice you until you are close enough to take him."

Teal'c closed his eyes and gracefully inclined his head. "I am grateful beyond measure for this. I know that you risk much. I am in your debt."

"You have given me an opportunity to serve my people, Master Teal'c. I am the honored one. Now, I must leave. The lift is in the direction I am heading. Follow close behind. I will call out to any I see, to give you warning." Oric's sense of urgency was increasing. He nodded a final farewell and slipped off down the corridor.

Moving from shadow to shadow the four followed.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Col. Jack O'Neill held up a hand, signaling his team to hold their positions. He studied the entrance to the lift, gauging distance. Tension spiked through him - his sixth sense was screaming. The "caution" button on his inner control panel was lit up like a freakin' Christmas tree. If this mission had been for anyone but Teal'c, Jack would have aborted as soon as he'd heard the bizarre status report from the rebel Jaffa at the Gate. But the normally rock solid presence just behind Jack was vibrating like a kite-string in a hurricane. Teal'c needed his team; needed them right here and right now. There was no real choice, so Jack ignored everything but the corridor in front of him.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was rotten in the fucking state of Snake-mark.

Jack glanced across the hall. Major Samantha Carter, her blond hair tucked beneath her black cap, watched him closely, waiting for his signal. Just behind her he could see the outline of their fourth teammate, Dr. Daniel Jackson, weapon ready. Jack jerked his head and Daniel glided around Sam, who kept her P-90 trained down the empty corridor behind them. Jack also watched their six, feeling Teal'c move out in tandem with Daniel. The two disappeared into the ship's lift. Another second and Jack and Sam backed into the lift and they headed down.

Jack couldn't shake his trouble sensor. In the years that the four of them had worked together as the primary exploration and first contact team at Stargate Command, SG-1 had slunk around quite a few of these bronze and gilt flying horror-shows. Jack had never seen one so empty. He kept his face neutral, the only expression that of fierce concentration on the job at hand. But his gut was trying to scale his throat like it was Everest.

They reached the correct level swiftly, Jack and Sam each taking a direction to secure. Daniel and Teal'c flowed to shadows on opposite sides of the hallway, Jack and Sam joining them. This time Jack and Sam took point while Daniel and Teal'c kept rear guard.

Jack spotted the Jaffa guard first and held a hand up. The other three flattened themselves against the walls, blending with the shadows. Jack flipped his cap around to minimize his profile and took a cautious peek around the corner.

One Jaffa stood guard, just as they'd been told. He looked monumentally bored.

This was way, way, _way_ too easy. Jack stomped on his gut one more time and gave a tight nod to Daniel. Daniel had his handgun on him, but it was holstered in favor of the 'z' shaped energy weapon Jack called a 'zat'. It had a longer name but Jack couldn't pronounce it.

For this plan to work at least one of the team needed to be armed with a zat. The alien weapons were relatively silent, their energy bolts taking out enemies with none of the clamor of the projectile weapons Earth produced. They needed to be able to get in and out without anyone realizing they were there; Jack _really_ didn't want to slug it out with an entire shipload of hostile Jaffa.

Still, Sam and Jack both favored the heavier P-90's; adding a zat would have slowed them down. So from here until they got back to the Stargate, Daniel had point.

Daniel poured himself easily around the corner and fried the guard quickly and quietly, using his momentum to gain a sheltered spot near the heavy iron gate of the pen. Teal'c followed, while Carter and Jack held their positions. Jack kept his eyes on the hallway behind his team. Fresh sweat prickled his skin where the backward cap rubbed his forehead. He ignored it. On the other side of the hallway he could see Sam mirroring both his position and his discomfort. Carter shot a quick glance at him, blue eyes huge and tense. Her sixth sense was obviously just as cranky as his was.

The twisting in his gut got worse as he heard a low fierce exchange in the harsh language of the Goa'uld start at the pen door. __

_For cryin' out loud. We're **rescuing**__ you people. Don't **argue**__ with us_.

"Daniel?" he whispered, his voice making the name both a question and a warning.

"Just a minute, Jack." a fierce whisper from Daniel made Jack's belly cramp harder.

"We don't _have_ a minute, Daniel. Is he there or not?" Jack could feel his attention slipping, the need to somehow force Daniel to go faster conflicting with his defense designation. Years of both training and combat kept him at his post but his pulse was beginning to roar in his inner ear as every single instinct he owned told him to get his team out of there immediately, if not sooner.

"Daniel?" he asked sharply.

"Found him, Jack." Daniel's voice was low and only slightly triumphant. Jack risked a look over his shoulder. The slight form of Teal'c's son Rya'c pressed up against the bars, Teal'c clutching his son's shoulder. Jack felt a shiver of relief.

Almost there.

"Uh, Jack?" Daniel's voice was leveling out, becoming neutral.

"There's a problem."

Every hair on Jack O'Neill's body stood up. Daniel only used that tone when sugar had most emphatically become shit. Both Jack and Sam automatically looked back at Daniel and Teal'c.

"What, Daniel?" Jack demanded.

"The guard doesn't have the keying crystal for the door lock."

"What?"

"There's no _key_, Jack."

Teal'c and Jack exchanged a quick look and Teal'c backed up and pointed his staff at the pen lock.

A white ball of energy hit the wall next to Carter. All four members of SG-1 instinctively ducked deeper into their respective niches, automatically returning fire. But Jack already knew it was useless. There was no line of retreat except the slave pens and Daniel and Teal'c hadn't had enough time to get them open. Even if they did, the guard on the other side was still alive and well.

They were well and truly fucked. Jack could feel his gut gearing up for inevitable surrender or total annihilation -- preferably the former.

A booming voice carried down the passageway.

"Throw down your weapons and surrender, and I promise a quick death."

"There's an appetizing choice." Jack muttered. Daniel, Sam and Teal'c looked at him, waiting for their next move. Jack took a breath and let it out slowly. Where the hell were the Asgard when you fucking needed them?

"Throw down your weapons now, or I will personally kill every slave on this ship."

Well. That kinda changed the situation.

OK. No it didn't. Not really. Every time SG-1 surrendered to a Goa'uld bad things happened, but they got out more or less intact, while forcing a last stand would needlessly endanger innocent lives.

There really wasn't a choice.

"All right." Jack yelled. "Keep your pants on. We surrender."

He threw his P-90 into the hallway in front of him where it could be easily seen by their attackers. The other members of his team dropped their weapons and all four stood still as they were quickly surrounded by hostile Jaffa. For a moment, all Jack could think was that this was well on its way to becoming a really crappy day.

Then it got worse.

Down the cold bronze hallway lumbered the biggest, scariest, most insane looking goddamed Jaffa Jack had ever seen.

His skin was so intensely white it glowed. His eyes, a strange shade of light green, burned under his metal skullcap. The tattoo on his forehead was white metal, maybe platinum?

And size-wise?

He was _epic_.

His head came close to the seven-foot mark. He was as wide as the two Jaffa that stood in front of him. Jack could feel his eyes widen and his head start to involuntarily cock to one side. Like, maybe if he changed his perspective he could find a way to wrap his brain around the sheer fucking mass of this guy. Or -- Jack tilted his head the other way, blinking -- maybe not.

Maybe King Jaffa Kong's entire body was built to some massive alien scale that humans just didn't have the capacity to understand yet.

"Daniel?" Jack asked plaintively.

"My god" Daniel breathed behind him.

OK. That was sort of comforting. At least he wasn't imagining this _behemoth_.

On second thought...maybe not that comforting after all.

All the Jaffa surrounding SG-1 had a vaguely terrified look deep in their eyes. Jack felt even sorrier than usual for this batch. Not only were they pissing their lives away servicing a lying, cheating snake, but they also had to work for this mutated gorilla. He probably ate anyone who pissed him off.

Unfortunately, this self-same gorilla was looking at Jack and his team with a gigantic mouth shaping a smugly pleased smile.

"Well. This is a surprise. The traitor Teal'c and his Tauri masters, no less."

"No one owns me, slave." Teal'c rumbled, then added in the Jaffa tongue. "I will die free."

"Well" the huge Jaffa boomed with evident pleasure, "You will, at the very least, die."

He smirked at Jack "The price I can get for delivering you into the right hands will bring unto my Lord Nergal all the recognition he so richly deserves."

"Well, I can pretty much guarantee you that if I ever meet your master, he's going to get exactly what he deserves." Jack said flatly.

The giant threw back his head and laughed. Jack found the sight mesmerizing.

Also, given the nose hair factor, somewhat repulsive.

"I can see why certain parties are willing to pay handsomely for you." Giant Jaffa seemed even more delighted in Jack's deadpan responses than he was at the discovery that his new prisoners were the infamous Tauri known as SG-1.

He turned to his guards. "Take the shol'va and his master to the communications room. Leave the female here."

Jack feigned a calm he was absolutely sure was probably not humanly possible at times like this. In fact, he was pretty much channeling Teal'c. Splitting up the team was always a bad sign. Someone inevitably got hurt before they could all get out together.

Or died. That was never a laugh riot. Jack tried to remember if this boat had a sarcophagus on it. He didn't think that they'd gotten any intel on it, but the gold box that turned dead people into live ones was virtually standard issue on most mother ships.

Giant Jaffa barked orders at the guards around Jack and Teal'c and they were prodded with staffs. Jack dug in his heels.

"My team stays with me." he said, using his best Colonel voice.

The Giant Jaffa laughed again. He spoke a few words in Jaffa to one of the cringing guards. The only word Jack could understand was "kree' but then again, that really didn't mean much. They always said that. The guard stepped forward and handed Giant Jaffa Daniel's handgun.

Jack met the amused eyes without flinching. Jaffa always had to make a pissing contest out of stuff. Hopefully this guy would admire Jack's balls and keep them together.

Jack's heart sank as a guard dragged Carter further back toward the pens.

Giant Jaffa kept his eyes on Jack's. "You must understand, Tauri, that I have followed your exploits for my Lord. He has noted, on more than one occasion, that you don't like to sacrifice your warriors by leaving them in order to further your own survival."

Without warning, without expression, without fucking _looking_, he shot Carter.

Both Daniel and Jack flinched. Teal'c didn't move, but his eyes grew very, very hard.

Carter lay on the ground, gasping for air. Her right thigh was bloody. She clenched her jaw against the pain and glared at the huge Jaffa who'd assaulted her. He didn't look back; he was still watching Jack.

"You see, Col., I am going to leave this useful weapon here, with a guard I will be in constant contact with. If you try to escape, your beautiful warrior here will be shot in a different limb for every ten minutes you are gone." he held the gun out and another Jaffa took it. "She's only got three more before I reach her head."

Jack felt his morning coffee rising up, thick in his throat. He deliberately looked away from the assessing gaze of their captor and locked eyes with Carter. Her wide blue eyes were no longer worried. Now they were furious and determined. She clenched her jaw and sent a silent message.__

_I'm fine, sir._

He let his own eyes answer.__

_The hell you are, Carter. Keep your head down until I come to get you. And don't get shot again._

_I won't, sir. _

_And don't bleed to death. That's an order._

_Yes, sir._

Sometimes the fact that they'd all been in so many life or death situations came in handy. SG-1 had non-verbal communication down to a fucking science.

The smaller Jaffa prodded Jack again. Jack was tempted to think of them as "the wee ones", but recognized the edge of hysteria in that idea and knew he didn't have the time to crack right now. He began to dig in his heels again, then saw that they were prodding Daniel as well. OK, at least he didn't have to worry about

Crap.

They were pulling Daniel in a different direction. The two men realized their respective vectors at the same moment and exchanged a look. The same thought was mirrored in both sets of eyes, blazing out at each other in stereo.__

_Now what?_

"Hey." Jack dug in his heels again. Giant Jaffa raised his communicator.

"Whoa! Take it easy there." Jack said rapidly. The last thing he wanted was for Carter to get a bullet in the other leg. That would really screw their escape plans, big time. "I just want to know why Daniel's not coming with us. Let me guess....his price not worth as much as mine?"

Actually that could work to their advantage. Bad guys who underestimated Daniel tended to end up hurt one way or another.

Or dead, if Daniel had his way. Daniel was a hell of a lot tougher than most snakes gave him credit for, and he really, _really_ hated the Goa'uld.

"I will return Daniel Jackson to you. Later. He will also serve my Lord's plans." Giant Jaffa turned and walked away, trailing the small posse surrounding Daniel. Daniel threw a pointed look back.__

_Just get Carter out. I'll be fine._

"O'Neill." Teal'c said gravely. "This does not bode well for DanielJackson."

Jack stared straight ahead, grim and determined.

"Ya think?"


	2. Showtime

From his concealed vantage point in the slave pen's overhead venting system, Benton Fraser and his symbiote Trev'van studied the small blond-haired soldier. She had reacted with surprising equanimity to being shot in the leg and dumped in a Goa'uld slave pen. For a soldier, particularly one from America, he would have expected more bravado, more open defiance. The fact that she was considered a viable hostage to her CO's ongoing good behavior also spoke volumes about this unit. Fraser found himself respecting the team leader. He watched all but two Jaffa accompany the other three members of SG-1, all three of them visibly seething.

He supposed it was inevitable that he and Ray should end up somehow embroiled in the affairs of the other people from Earth running around the universe. Illya Kuryakin, Trev'van's most recent former host, had been tracking the American military group with interest for some time. Of course he and Ray would have to extricate the SG-1 team from this untenable and probably lethal situation. Not only was it their duty as

Well, he couldn't really say officers of the law anymore, could he?

Truth be told, Fraser also felt a certain amount of guilt. This trap had obviously been laid for him and Ray. Given the history the Lar'raan Reii symbiotes Trev'van and Shir had with Vosk and his demented Lord Nergal, they had known it was going to be a trap coming in and had prepared accordingly. Sadly the trap had been sprung on the wrong team.

They had one definite advantage, however. Vosk didn't know why his trap had netted him SG-1. For the time being, his psychopathic attention would be fixed on the wrong side of the ship as he tried to get information about the Lar'raan Reii from the one group of people guaranteed not to know anything.

Due to an unexplained surge in aggression and several current skirmishes being waged on a number of different planets, the System Lord Nergal had almost no Jaffa to spare right now. It seemed that a great majority of the non-essential crew had been detailed to keep tabs on the various members of SG-1. Even as Fraser watched, the guard from the other side of the hold spoke into his communicator and walked off with only a word or two of explanation to his comrades inside the pen. The one watching Major Carter slowly bleed out laughed and made a crude joke in Goa'uld.

Fraser turned the facts over and over in his mind. As strange as it seemed, Vosk had had a moment of sheer, blind luck, all the more remarkable because that fact had somehow eluded him. During a raid on a small rebel Jaffa base he had managed to capture, purely by accident, the son of the most famous Jaffa alive right now. And since he'd managed to somehow completely miss that crucial point, through his own psychotic arrogance and bloodlust, Fraser felt no desire to point it out.

Fraser stared down at the prisoners, thinking fast. There were 18 humans and 23 Jaffa, counting the child and the soldier. Much of his attention was focused on the bleeding woman and the furious young Jaffa boy.

A sturdy woman with hair even lighter than the injured Air Force soldier's was holding the young Jaffa boy tightly, whispering fiercely into his ear. Fraser nodded encouragement despite the fact that no one could see him. Good. Someone was thinking. The woman had obviously gleaned the fact that the guards had no idea of the value of that child. And there was no reason to enlighten them. Another captive, a dark man who looked to be in his early thirties, stood casually in the direct line of sight between the Jaffa guards and the struggle taking place behind him.**__**

**_I think those two would be extremely good recruits._** Fraser mused.**__**

**_I agree_**. Trev'van's voice startled Fraser and he flinched. **_They've kept their wits about them; managed not to compromise us even when faced with an ambiguous situation._**

Fraser was still not used to having his inner thoughts answered, or even heard. He damped down an instinctual flare of distaste at the fact that his private thoughts were no longer strictly private and kept to the observations at hand. **__**

**_Yes. The woman immediately figured out those other human soldiers were looking for the child, and the man moved just as swiftly to divert the guards' attention. They seem to work well as a team. I definitely want to add them to our numbers, if possible._**

A soft touch on his arm was Ray and he was glad. Whenever he had doubts, being around Ray, working with Ray, generally quelled them. Fraser could admit to a certain amount of envy at the easy-going relationship between Ray and the symbiote he carried. Ray and Shir got along famously and Ray obviously believed that Trev'van and Fraser would one day have a similar rapport.

Fraser sincerely doubted that he would ever become accustomed to the sense of_nakedness_ he felt. Having someone constantly in your mind was almost a violation. And he knew Trev'van felt hurt that he was unable to be more enthusiastic about the relationship, but he couldn't help it. Life as a Mountie had never prepared him to share his brain.

He resolved to try harder to get to know Trev'van and moved away from the vent he was peering through. He crawled over to the hole Ray had created and looked back down into the slave hold.

From the moment this ship had hit the rebel village, Fraser and the symbiotes had known it was a trap, a lure to bring out the infamous slave-freeing rebels known as the Lar'raan Reii. Ray had complained bitterly about the entire idea of deliberately stepping into a trap, but Trev'van, Shir and Fraser had all managed to talk him into the plan.

Trev'van and Shir had a score to settle with Vosk, and Fraser had pointed out that there were still captives aboard the ship. It was their duty to help them. So Ray, with much muttering, had thrown himself and Shir into figuring out the safest way to achieve their goal despite the added danger.

Ray had used a suspiciously familiar slick compound (Fraser blushed slightly as the scent triggered provocative memories) in combination with a small metal cutter and a magnet, to quietly open a hole in the bottom of the vent within which they were currently ensconced. A person-sized hole, one that opened inside the pens, securing passage through the vent system to all incarcerated there. The plan had been that they would lift people up into the vent system and Ray would lead them to the Stargate. Ray would then Gate over with the refugees and Fraser would fly the scout ship.

It had been a good plan, a very good plan indeed. Unfortunately, that plan was now defunct, as there were four extra complications to take into account, one of whom was currently bleeding to death beneath them.

SG-1 had stumbled into a trap set for the Lar'raan Reii. It was only honorable that the Lar'raan Reii get them out of it.

Ray touched him again, blue eyes inquisitive. He was woolgathering. Time to serve the cause of justice.

However, before justice could be served, they needed to clarify the new plan. After all, Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

Fraser looked at Ray, pointed at the injured woman, and pointed at Ray.

Ray looked down at her and nodded. He then pointed to the darkness of the vent, back toward the direction of the Stargate, pointed at Fraser, and moved his forearms with loosely held fists back and forth, miming crawling.

Fraser nodded.

Ray pointed at the young Jaffa, now subdued but still openly quite emotional, and pointed at himself. Then he held up his hands to his face, circling his index finger and thumb to mime glasses and pointed at Fraser.

Fraser nodded, pointed at himself and mimed a salute.

Ray nodded.

Fraser felt better. The mimed conversation had taken less than ten seconds, all told. He and Ray had always had a tremendous rapport. They exchanged grins. The new plan was now set. They drew their zatn'kitels, simultaneously mouthed a three count and fired through the hole at the two Jaffa guards, Fraser taking out the one with the gun.

__

_Showtime._

Ray dropped lightly into the pen, Fraser landing behind him a split second later.

"Hey, folks." he said, taking in the stares. "My name's Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you."

The people seemed to range in mood from hopeful to suspicious. The Jaffa all looked pissed. The blond woman took a step forward, cool voice matching her platinum hair. "Are youÉ?"

"UmmÉLar'raan Reii. Heard of us? Cool." Ray grinned. "UmÉwe had a plan. NowÉwellÉwe have a new plan. We're gonna take you guys to the Stargate and send you through to our base camp without us. These guys need our help." He pointed with his chin at Major Carter. The Jaffa all became noticeably more hostile.

It seemed like a good time to turn on the Mountie charm. Moving quickly, Ray tossed his zat to Fraser. All eyes followed the arc of the weapon, sliding away from the lean blonde cop to the beautiful man with dark hair. Fraser started talking his Fraser relax-o-spiel.

Ray let Shir take control. She pulled out a healing device and knelt down next to the unconscious blond soldier. She stayed aware of her surroundings as she examined the wound, knowing that she was leaving Fraser the sometimes impossible job of convincing Goa'uld captives, whether human or Jaffa, that the Lar'raan Reii were not a threat. **__**

**_Ben'll be fine, Lady. Just do your thing._**

"We are not gods." Fraser was adding, and Ray knew just from the tone of his voice that his blue eyes were serious and kind. The platinum blond woman, still cradling the young Jaffa boy, was the first to respond.

"We will help however we can, Reii-An." She looked at the dark man, purpose warring with excitement sparking between them. "I am Seleen. This is my man, Dion."

Grinning madly inside Shir's head, Ray could feel Fraser stare for a moment. Then Fraser shook it off and smoothly started getting people organized and Ray got distracted as Shir began firing up the healing thingy. She ran it over Blondie's leg, healing the worst of the damage.**__**

**_This is not good, Ray._** Shir was sober, her thoughts tasting of distress. **_The bullet missed the artery but came very close to it. The sheer force of the passing metal stressed the arterial wall here. And the weakened wall gave way moments ago. She's been bleeding even more heavily than we knew. If we had waited even a few more moments she would have_**

"What are you doing to Major Carter?" The question broke Shir's concentration and she stopped the healing flow.

The young Jaffa boy stood in front of her, eyes fierce and wary.

Ray resurfaced. Shir had residual guilt issues with the whole Jaffa race. Better he be the one to handle the kid.

"Hey. What's your name, kid?"

"I am Rya'c of Chulak, son of Teal'c." the kid was not giving an inch. "MajorCarter is my friend. Are you with the Tok'Ra? What are you doing to her?"

Ray went to run his hands through his dirty-blonde hair, accidentally smacking himself with the red device. "Ow." he squinted sharp blue eyes at the kid. "I'm trying to help her. See the bullet did someÉdamage. We're healing the damage. You get it?"

Rya'c hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"Great. Greatness. Um. You know the Tok'Ra? Yeah? We're kinda like them. We're here to help all these people get out, and we wanna help your dad, too." Shir murmured a suggestion in their shared head and Ray seized it. "Hey. You wanna help?"

Rya'c looked startled, then nodded again.

"Greatness." Ray grinned at him. "I gotta get your friend, Major Carver"

"Carter."

"Major Carter, right, I gotta get her to our ship. We got a" he flailed his hands around for a minute, narrowly missing the unconscious Major with the device on his hand. "We got this thing, it's like a sarcophagus, butÉumÉdifferent." He squinted at Rya'c. The kid seemed to be listening. "So, ahÉshe's not really what you'd call, ambulatory. "

The kid looked blank.

"I need to carry her." Ray clarified. Rya'c nodded, confusion still apparent on his young features. Was I ever that young? "Problem is, I can't carry a gun Ñ weapon Ñ and carry your friend at the same time." He cocked his head, challenging the kid. "You game? Watch my back?"

Rya'c's eyes widened slightly, but he kept his cool. "I will guard MajorCarter." he said, and Ray fought to keep a straight face. Even though he'd only seen the older Jaffa for a moment, he could tell the kid was channeling his dad; Ray would cut out his own tongue rather than laugh at him. Especially when Rya'c remembered his suspicions a moment later. "I will guard her even from you."

Ray held his hard young gaze for a heartbeat. "Fair enough. Yo, Frase." Fraser looked up from where he was hoisting people up through the vent.

"Give the kid a zat."


	3. Never Let 'em See You Sweat

Dr. Daniel Jackson was keeping his face neutral with an effort. They all knew the drill. Give captors nothing. Or as Jack said, _never let 'em see you sweat_. Jack's voice in his head was usually comforting, but Daniel suspected that the situation was rapidly disintegrating and even Jack's familiar rough cadence was not enough to make him feel better.

The three terrified Jaffa surrounding Daniel had marched him into a holding cell; a recessed wall and a narrow bench rounded off with the requisite force field. He sat down heavily on the bench, propping his back against the wall and staring fixedly at the wall. __

_Neutral. _

_Neutral._

The huge corpse-white Jaffa swept into the room. The other guards shrank. Daniel didn't move a muscle, didn't look up, and didn't react.

_Neutral_.

"I am Vosk." the Jaffa's voice was shockingly loud in the small confines of the room. "The shol'va is a great prize. Many gods will vie for the privilege of killing him. The Tauri leader - your O'Neill' will also fetch a significant price." __

_Never let 'em see you sweat._

"But you, Tauri. You are the true prize." Daniel could see the monstrous form coming closer in his peripheral vision. He kept his gaze neutral, exerting every ounce of his will. His captor loomed over him, practically touching the force field and placing himself as close to Daniel's field of vision as possible.

His tone was covetous, disturbingly so. Almost smoothly possessive.

"You will belong to my Lord Nergal. A perfect host for his ascension to his rightful place among the system lords."

"Guess you're not up on your history." Daniel said in a bored voice. "Last I checked, I'm pretty sure we were much better at bringing Goa'uld lords down than raising them up. You sure your Lord wants any part of this?"

There was no vocal response. The silence stretched uncomfortably long. Daniel finally flicked a glance at the immobile behemoth in front of him, only to get caught in burning bright green eyes that held him, effortlessly pinned as a butterfly in a collector's box.

"And until we reach my lord's planet, Tauri," The boom had become a low rumble, the seismic warning of an oncoming train. "You will belong to me."

He unfurled a terrifyingly long pink tongue and licked the force field lightly.

Sparks hissed and spat.

Daniel flinched.

As his jailer laughed and swept out of the room, Daniel berated himself for the involuntary move.

He'd lost that round. He'd most _emphatically_ lost that round.

Daniel took a deep breath. He couldn't stop shaking, tremors originating deep in his stomach and spiraling out. He clenched his fists and tried to telepathically convince Jack that getting out right now would be a really, really good idea. __

_C'mon, Jack. Where the **fuck**__ are you?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well." Jack drawled, "This is deja vu all over again."

He and Teal'c were in the communications room of a mother ship for, like, the eight billionth time. Six silent Jaffa held staff weapons steadily on them. "I'd like to say this never gets old, but I'd be lying."

Nothing was happening and Jack was getting more irritated by the moment.

"What're you waiting for, Christmas?" Jack demanded of the closest guard. "Aren't you going to call someone, or interrogate us or anything?" He turned to Teal'c. "These guys got no imaginations."

"Silence." one of the guards spoke sharply.

"What's the magic word?" Jack demanded.

"Vosk will cut out your tongue, Tauri." the guard spat, his furious eyes flicking from Jack to Teal'c and back again. "Vosk will destroy you."

"Not sure I know this 'Vost' guy. Have I met him?"

"Vosk commands this ship and all who serve here." another guard piped up. His voice was wavering; he was practically peeing his pants. Jack made a mental note to hit him first. Kid would fold like a bad poker hand.

"I believe that 'Vosk' is the Jaffa who shot MajorCarter." Teal'c said tightly.

Well, tightly for Teal'c, anyway.

"Oh yeah. Big-Ass Mutant Boy. I owe him for that. Carter owes him for that." Jack made a show of considering that. "That guy get hit with the ugly stick, or what?"

There was a collective indrawn breath from the Jaffa. They all paled, even the dark ones.

Vosk, all seven hundred pounds of him, swept into the room.

"I have heard of your habit of making jokes, Tauri." his voice sounded strange, almost indulgent. He smiled widely and Jack could see sharply pointed teeth. "I must confess, I had hoped one day to witness yourÉsense of humor?"

"Well, here it is." Jack said nonchalantly. "Enjoy."

Vosk laughed. It was a loud belly laugh, the kind shopping mall Santas practice in mirrors. It made Jack's flesh crawl.

"I shall enjoy, little Tauri." he said, positively reeking of mirth. His green eyes crinkled at the corners of his wide face and his pointed teeth shone as they caught the light. "I shall enjoy this very much."

Vosk came closer, motioning for the guards to put up their staffs.

"Now." He stood in front of Jack, his pale green eyes intent. "Tell me what you know of the Lar'raan Reii."

Jack cocked his head quizzically and looked at Teal'c. Teal'c raised an eyebrow back.

"Well. That's easy." Jack said, considering. "I don't even know what you just said."

"The Lar'raan Reii are a myth." Teal'c said flatly. Well, flatly for Teal'c, anyway. "I believe they do not exist."

"Can we go now?" Jack suggested hopefully.

Vosk's smile never shifted. "You will cease your humor soon and tell me about the Lar'raan Reii or I will be forced to take measures."

Jack looked him in the eye. "We know nothing about theÉwhatever. Hell, I can't even pronounce it."

Vosk continued to smile. "There is a time for laughter, Tauri, and a time for truth." He raised his communicator.

"Wait!" Jack said, panicking. "We've told you the truth. We don't know anything about thoseÉX-RayÉwhatever..people."

Vosk paused, a deliberate action meant to erode confidence, then put the communicator away. Jack stared at him, trying to project honesty.

It was difficult because the mutant was still wearing that creepy smile and it made Jack want to lie to him.

A lot.

"The truth is most definitely something I enjoy, O'Neill." His voice was disturbingly soft and he moved in closer to Jack. "I hope _you_ will enjoy the next few days as well, little Tauri." The smile was still on his lips and in his voice and Jack positively yearned to wipe it off with a P-90.

"I hope you will _enjoy_ the screams of your woman as my guards have her. I hope you _enjoy_ the despair in her groans as she arises from the sarcophagus, knowing she will die again in agony before the day is through. I definitely hope you _enjoy_ the sounds your pretty young warrior makes as I take him over and over and over until he cries out for mercy, impaled on my cockÉ "

Jack hit him.

There was no thought behind the blow. No strategy. No plan. He just lashed out, let fly a punch that landed squarely on that obscene mouth and rocked Vosk back on his gargantuan heels. Teal'c grabbed him and hauled him back, bruising Jack's skin with the force of his grip. Every weapon in the room came to bear on Jack and Teal'c, but Vosk threw up a hand and no one fired.

The room was silent except for Jack, breathing in sharp angry panting breaths.

Vosk kept smiling, pointed and ugly. He'd won that round, and he damn well knew it.

"Yes, little Tauri." he said, and Jack strained against Teal'c's grip, Ôcause the fucker was gloating.

"I shall enjoy you all. Your little band of defeated warriors and the Lar'raan Reii. I shall enjoy you all _immensely_."


	4. Spies

As soon as the rings were safely disengaged, Ray took off towards the ship's auto-doctor. The auto-doc functioned much the same way as the healing device, but could get deeper and heal more serious wounds. Once someone with a symbiote keyed it on, it stayed on, releasing the joined person from having to stay connected to the machine. It was not, however, a sarcophagus. There was no soul-stripping Goa'uld technology in this ship, no sir-ee bob.

Ray began getting Major Carter settled in the auto-doc, and then noticed that he'd lost his shadow. Glancing behind him he saw the Jaffa child standing very still, hands tight around the butt of the zat. The object of his consternation sat quietly, head cocked to the side with curiosity. Ray grinned.

"R ya'c, son of Teal'c, meet Franklin, son of Diefenbaker."

The white wolf barked.

Rya'c almost shot him.

Ray took pity on the kid and called off his dog. "C'mere, Frank." Franklin trotted over and looked up at Ray questioningly. Behind him Ray could feel Rya'c breathing easier. He ruffled the wolf's fur, glancing sideways at the taut face of his young shadow.

"Be nice." He told the wolf sharply. "Dief's gonna ask us about you when we get home, and you don't want that kind of trouble."

Frank barked and laid his head on Ray's knee.

"Go ahead." Ray told Rya'c. "Look around."

Rya'c ducked his head a little, considering, then he moved off through the hold, examining things and taking stock of his surroundings.

Major Carter was in the machine, tucked away all nice and neat. For a wound of that depth it would probably take at least ten to fifteen minutes to get the thing healed completely. Ray continued to pet Franklin.

Near the back door of the scout-ship's hold, a dark-haired man sat at one of the ship's seats, his immaculate gray suit oddly contrasting with the dark metal and scuffed silver around him. At his feet sat a lithe blonde man, wearing black pants, a black turtleneck, and a shoulder holster with the dark butt of a gun poking out of it. The dark-haired man smiled down at his partner and rubbed his hand over the cross strap of the holster, massaging the blond man's back.****

**I keep telling him he doesn't need this, being dead and all, but I think he just f eels undressed without it.**

Ray grinned. Napoleon Solo had carried his symbiote Shir before him, and the fact that his ghost continued to hang around tickled Ray's sense of humor. He still wasn't sure why Napoleon and his partner Illya Kuryakin both appeared to him, when Fraser was the one who was carrying the symbiote Illya was once joined to. But when he asked Illya, the blond ghost simply rolled his eyes. Napoleon had answered the question by saying that Illya obviously wanted Ray's body.

Ray sor t of hoped that that had been a joke, although he and Illya had had some major sparkage before the spy's death.

Then again, that might be one good reason for Illya to steer clear of Fraser right there.****

**The boy is brave.** Illya was watching the kid, his ice blue eyes strangely gentle. **He deserves to know what's going on. And it would be the best strategic move for you and Benton as well.**

Rya'c disappeared into the cockpit. Ray kept an eye on the door.

"What'dya mean? I should...what? Tell him everything? I mean" he looked sharply at the two men before looking back at the door to the small scout's cockpit, "you want I should just lay it all out?"

Illya looked straight at him and nodded, then looked up at Napoleon who was thinking it over.****

**I agree.** Napoleon said s lowly. He looked at Ray and tilted his head slightly. **By committing to helping the soldiers down there you have exposed our entire operation to possible scrutiny from the US Military and, if your not careful, US Intel ligence. The FBI, the CIA and, in p articular, the NID would be overjoyed to get their hands on this technology, and you still have living relatives in the US.**

Illya picked up the warning. **Napasha is correct. You will need to control the information that the soldiers take back. The child is the perfect vehicle. Explain things to him. He will become, perforce, your champion on Earth.**

**And he has de facto diplomatic immunity.** Napoleon capped the argument. **No one would _dare_**** try to take him from his father, and I'l l just bet the members of their organization have had their run-ins with the NID at the very least. They'll close ranks to protect him.**

Rya'c poked his head back in. Oblivious to the considered regard of two non-corporeal ex-spies, he came forward, e yes alight at the wonders of the small craft. Ray leaned against the auto-doc, looking at him and slowly petting his wolf.

"Hey Frank," Ray murmured, without taking his eyes off the young Jaffa, "you up to taking a group through the Gate?"

Franklin barked twice.

"Greatness. Let me get a hold of Frase."

Illya Kuryakin, the acerbic Russian currently leaning against his partner's knee, had been Fraser and Ray's mentor in all things guerilla during the last part of his life. He had also been something o f an electronics and science whiz during his stint as an U.N.C.L.E. agent, and with the help of his symbiote -- among others -- he had created these fabulous little communicators. They fit snugly in one's ear Ñ good for running and shooting Ñ and they cou ld pick up even the quietest sub-vocalizations. Which was good for hiding and fleeing.

Ray keyed his comm. "Yo, Frase. Where you at?"

"We've taken over the Gate room, Ray. The Jaffa are gone, presumably headed ba ck to one of their bases, but the ordinary people are confused. We need time to sort them all out - get them all back to their respective planets. But I'm not sure how long we can keep this many people here without being discovered."

"I think I got a solution to that. We can send them to P-6 like we planned."

"Ray, our people at Purgatory 6 will take it somewhat amiss should a mass of unidentified refugees start pouring through the gate. Without someone to explain the situation, I fear a possibly leth al miscommunication."

"Yeah, that's why we send Franklin with 'em. Everyone knows the wolf. If Frank's with 'em, they'll know _we_ sent 'em." Ray glanced back at Franklin. Franklin barked. "Frank thinks it's a good plan."

"Franklin thinks the Starg ate is a theme park attraction." Fraser sighed. "All right, Ray. It's the best plan we have at the moment."

"Greatness. Leave Seleen and Dion - and can I just say, they're _so_ gonna need code names if they're staying with us - leave them some weapons and go to the ring site. Major Carter is in the auto-doc, basting away. I can't leave her. I'll ring the wolf down."

Ray's voice became very serious. "Frase, you gotta hurry. You gotta get to that Dr. Jackson guy. He's _way_ too pretty. Vosk has psychotic glee comin' outta his pores, and tha t is never a good thing."

"Understood, Ray. I'm leaving now to get to the ring site. Give me thirty seconds, then ring Franklin down. I'll send off the villagers through the Stargate, then I'll track Dr. Jackson down." Fraser's voice was tight. Former hosts of both Trev'van and Shir had had bad experiences with Vosk, Trev'van in particular.

"I believe your assessment to be frighteningly accurate. Dr. Daniel Jackson is indeed in _serious_ trouble."


	5. Inquisition as Foreplay

_I am in serious trouble._

Daniel was projecting as Jack-like a nonchalant attitude as he could, but Gigantor was still looking at him like an h'ors doeuvre. All other Jaffa had been ordered out of the room, which was incredibly unsettling, and now the creature was just looming there, watching Daniel try to act...nonchalant.

Daniel was a smart man. Some had been known to call him a genius. And the licking of the force field had not been subtle. Vosk was getting off big time on Daniel's fear. The smart thing would be to not show any. Deprive the senses of the desired stimuli, thus avoiding provoking the predator reflex. It was a simple plan, one that fit with the O'Neill-approved "don't give 'em a goddamned thing" plan. Daniel was all for not giving this guy anything, especially his ass.

Unfortunately, he could feel the shakes in his solar plexus, radiating outward. And they were getting more intense the longer he stood there under the hungry green eyes. He hoped the trembling wasn't noticeable. Shivering violently wasn't very nonchalant. In fact, it reminded him way too much of beta dog behavior, and he wasn't about to roll over for this guy. It pretty obviously wasn't Daniel's throat Gigantor wanted to rip into. And that thought made him shake harder.__

_Why me?_

The voice that usually kicked him when he was down had a slightly different tone today. Angst was definitely involved, but Daniel could also feel pure fury beginning to bubble and seethe in his mind as well.__

_Why do the psychos always decide 'Let's screw with Daniel?' And so often, literally? This is getting very old, very quickly._

"So, little Tauri." The Big Jaffa's rumbly voice filled the small cell room. "Tell me about the Lar'raan Reii."

Daniel quirked an eyebrow. OK. That was...different.

The strange request distracted him, pulled his attention away from the simmering fear and anger in his stomach. "I don't know any...I'm sorry, how do you pronounce it? 'Laren Ray?"

A zat blast hit the force field. Daniel did better this time, only closing his eye s when the shock jolted him, then trying to regain his neutral pose. Fuck. This Jaffa was totally out of his mind.

"The Lar'raan Reii, Tauri. Where are they? Surely they won't leave you here."

"Well, I would hope not, but seeing as how I don't know the m, I really couldn't say." Daniel tried for calm.

He felt like he achieved pissy.

Vosk heaved himself up and came over to the force field. Daniel really, really wanted a weapon of some sort. "They have let you trip their snare, and they will not come t o your aid. They are cowards, and the system lords will barter much for their heads."

Daniel didn't move, didn't respond. More people out there pissing off the Goa'uld ? A big plus in Daniel's book.

Go team.

"You can tell me, you know." Vosk's voice dropped to a bizarre approximation of a purr. "You will be the perfect host for my Lord, little Tauri, and you and I will be together for centuries. It will be perfect"

Inquisition as foreplay. How very Goa'uld.

Daniel tuned him out. Idly he translated in his head. __

_'Lar'raan Reii.' _

_It was Goa'uld, oddly enough. Then again, so was 'Tok'Ra.' He was guessing at the spelling, but it sounded about as straightforward as Goa'uld ever got. _

_"Raan" was...cover, hide, veil. Lar was roughly equivalent to the prefix "un." Uncover_

_Wait. _

_Given that they said the Lar and the Raan at onceÉthere was probably a hyphen or an apostrophe. Apostrophe probably, the language was just rife with them. "Lar'raan." Uncover...to uncover...to unveil...unveil - er? _

_Hmm. _

_Hold that thought. _

_"Reii" was a very, very old Goa'uld word for "star" or "stars." _

_To uncover/unveil the stars? _

_Uncover-er of stars? _

_Unveiler of Stars?_

"And we shall rule together. What do you think of that, little Tauri?"

Daniel blinked up and peered over his glasses at the triumphantly smiling Jaffa, genuinely startled.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Having sent the terrified villagers through the Stargate, with Franklin loping through the event horizon first as a living message to everyone at the base that this group was legitimate, Fraser/Trev'van moved swiftly through the ship. He hoped grimly that he would be able to track down Dr. Jackson in time. Trev'van had terrible, terrible memories of the time a former host, a female human, had been unlucky enough to be captured by Vosk. She had been tortured constantly, brought to the point of death and revived by sarcophagus over and over again, only to be tortured further. It had taken Shir, bonded at that time with UNC LE agent Napoleon Solo, two years to rescue her. By that point she had been irrevocably insane.

Trev'van had had to take mental control of her more than once, and the memories of that time turned Fraser's stomach. Napoleon had been forced to kill her in order to allow Trev'van to escape into Illya Kuryakin, Solo's partner. Once the transfer had been made, Shir had had to shoot her again to keep her from attacking them. She could no longer distinguish reality from the madness in her mind and believed that they were devils, sent by Vosk to torment her with thoughts of freedom.

They had made sure her body was disintegrated with a third zat burst, mainly to keep Vosk from bringing her back.**__**

**_One day,_** Trev'van hissed in Fraser's mind. **_One day I will visit that planet again. And I will burn that fortress to the ground._**

**_Agreed._** Fraser replied. **_But for now we must avoid detection._**

**_Agreed. Let me lead. I know these ships intimately._**

Fraser gritted his teeth. The feeling of allowing another consciousness to control his body was still highly disturbing, however he acknowledged that Trev'van was correct. He understood the design of Goa'uld craft far better than Fraser ever would.

They shrank against a bulkhead as a Jaffa guard hurried past. Trev'van, acting on pure instinct, grabbed the warrior from behind and pulled him into the shadows.

"Where is your master holding the Tauri warriors?" he whispered harshly.

The guard twisted in h is grip, reacting to the harsh resonance of the symbiote's voice. "I serve no god but my Lord."

"Fool." Trev'van had no patience for Jaffa servitude. "We are not gods."

The Jaffa froze. "WhoÉw hat are you?"

"The Tauri? Where are they?"

"Let me go." suddenly the warrior was still, cooperative. Trev'van didn't slacken his grip, however.

"You serve Vosk." Trev'van didn't slacken his hold. "I know the fear he instills. Don't lie to me, just tell me where he is keeping the Tauri."

The guard hesitated then said in Goa'uld, "I will die free."**__**

**_What the heck does that mean?_** Fraser asked Trev'van.**__**

**_It's the password of the Jaffa rebels. He is one of them._**

Trev'van let the Jaffa go reluctantly, but kept his zatn'kitel trained on him. "If you sound an alarm, I will fire and I will not stop until you are a memory."

The Jaffa warrior rubbed his throat, glaring at Fraser. "I am Oric. I helped the Tauri warriors gain access to this ship. I repudiate the false gods."

"Then tell me w here Dr. Jackson is." Trev'van urged. "Vosk is an animal."

Oric nodded, memory flashing behind his eyes. "You are correct Ñ he is truly a devil incarnate." A sound down the corridor had them both reflexively shrinking into a corner, hidden by a jutting bulkhead. "You must hurry. Vosk is toying with the Tauri warrior, DanielJackson, playing with him as a predator plays with its prey. But he is hungry and much favored by Lord Nergal. He believes himself as much of a god as his master, now. He will not wait to feed."

Trev'van nodded. "How do I find him? Quickly?"

The Jaffa gave him directions to the holding cell where Vosk had Dr. Jackson, then said. "Master Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill are in the Communication room. There are many warriors there, you must take care." he turned to go.

"Wait!" Trev'van caught him by the arm. "Before you go to the others, give me ten minutes and then sound an alarm."

Oric looked at him, aghast. "You wish to die?"

Trev'van shook his head. "I need a diversion. Let it be known that the slaves have escaped. Get as many Jaffa as you can down to the slave pen. With any luck, Vosk will go there himself."

Oric nodded sharply then took off. Trev'van/Fraser waited until he was out of sight, then started toward the holding cell, signaling Ray as he went.


	6. History Lesson

"Ray."

"Trev? What ya got?"

"I found an unexpected ally. In ten minutes he's going to sound the alarm about the refugees."

Ray began to pace. "And that's a good thing?"

"Yes. Look, Ray, get the boy and Major Carter to the Stargate. I don't know what the situation is with Dr. Jackson, but I know Vosk is there with him. It may take some time to free Dr. Jackson. I need you to get Col. O'Neill and Teal'c from the Communications room." He clicked off.

"Freak." Ray muttered. He glanced at the auto-doc. "Two more minutes." He took a deep breath and looked at Napoleon and Illya. They both nodded at him, eyes kind, and for a moment he missed Lilia's physical presence with a visceral pang. He pushed that feeling down sharply and looked soberly at Rya'c.

Rya'c, picking up the seriousness of the moment, straightened his spine and returned the level look.

Ray sighed.

"All right, kid. I'm gonna explain this whole crazy situation to you while we wait for the Major. You can take all this stuff back to your dad, so don't feel like I'm telling secrets out of school or nothin'."

He scrubbed his face with his hands, ran them across his head, and gripped his blond hair for a moment. Then he stopped and shook himself all over, and began pacing.

"So...hey. Here we go. In the beginning there was a race of snakes, right? And most of them were wicked little buggers. They set themselves up as gods and made slaves out of other races...you're up with this part of the story, right?" he peered at Rya'c, who nodded.

"Right. So those guys called themselves the Goa'uld. And then a bunch of the snakes decided they weren't down with all the raping and looting and killing. They kinda liked the people they were joining with and they decided they'd rather make it a partnership than take over the poor saps' brains against their will. The main bad guy at that point was this real vicious fuck named Ra and the movement took its name from their resistance to him. So then, you got your Tok'Ra."

He paused, and then flung himself into a seat across from the boy. He looked at the kid, suddenly exhausted. It was more psychological than physical - the symbiote wrapped around his brainstem gave him more stamina than your average guerilla or whatever. But trying to boil down the wacky hijinks of the last several millennia in two minutes was a serious fucking challenge.

"That's where it takes one more branching." his eyes were clear, his voice level and somber. "The Tok'Ra have an agenda. They want to take down the Goa'uld. And we are all over that, believe you me. But at some point a bunch of the Tok'Ra got fed up with the party line. It just seemed that whether it was the Goa'uld or the Tok'Ra, the larger picture was always about this insane war. No one seemed to care that whole worlds were being enslaved. No one cared about all the little guys stuck in ships like this, waiting to be killed or taken over by a Goa'uld. The Goa'uld wanted planets. The Tok'Ra want to take down the Goa'uld. No one wanted to free the slaves."

"So the Lar'raan Reii was born. A bunch of disaffected members of the Tok'Ra set upÉwellÉbasically it's an Underground Railroad. We hit mother ships and free slaves. That's what we do. That's all we do. We don't attack System Lords or plot major battles."

Ray grinned, "As Fraser puts it, 'We're a specialized guerilla spin-off of a disaffected order of rebels.' I like to think of us as the black sheep of the Tok'Ra."

Ray stood again, glancing once more at Illya. The blond head nodded once, sharply, and Ray exhaled a long, long breath.

"Any questions?"

Rya'c's eyes were huge. He simply sat there, stunned, absorbing the information Ray was spilling. Ray could almost see it rising in his head like mercury, heavy and poisonous. He hated himself for giving this job to a child, but Napoleon was right. He needed someone to tell the people with the Stargate that they were good guys. And it had to be someone that the bad guys back on Earth would have a hard time squeezing.

This group, this 'SG-1', they were like cops. Yeah, OK, military - whatever. They were basically space cops. And cops backed up cops. He couldn't be out here and not help them and he knew Frase would feel the same. But he and Fraser were too vulnerable back home. They had too many people they loved. It was going to be tricky no matter how you looked at it.

Napoleon looked at him with compassion in his dark brown eyes.****

**I know it feels wrong to use the kid,** he said, **but he is living proof that you're an ally.**

"I know." Ray said quietly.

"You know what, Master Skywalker?" Rya'c looked at him strangely.__

_Right._ Ray thought, wincing. _The kid can't see Illya and Napoleon._

"Actually, " Ray said, trying to smile at the earnest young Jaffa Junior, "my name's Ray. You can call me that."

The corner of Rya'c's mouth twitched, the question only half serious, "Master Ray?"

"No, kid, no." Ray laughed a little and immediately felt better. Obviously, this kid would be all right. "Just Ray."****

**Don't discount him, Ray. He's tougher than he looks.** Illya was studying Rya'c closely, eyes narrowed in concentration. **He is obviously a survivor.**

He turned back to Ray and nodded once again. ****

**Yes, Ray.** Illya smiled gently at his worried corporeal friend, **I believe Rya'c will be just fine.**

There was a beep and a hiss and the autodoc's cover slid open, exposing an unconscious but healed Major Carter.

"Oh thank god." Ray breathed. He threw a zat in his pants pocket and tucked his handgun in to the waistband of his jeans. He grabbed another zat and looked back at Rya'c.

"Time to go, kid. I just wanted you to know who we are. So you know who you're fighting with." As lies went, that wasn't such a bad one. And it made Rya'c happy. ****

**Good luck, Ray.** Illya said. Ray nodded at him then tossed Rya'c a zat.

"Ready?"

Rya'c flushed with pleasure, but his hands on the weapon were steady and he stood tall.

"You know how to get to the Gate?"

Rya'c nodded. "I kept my eyes open on the way to the place where they held me. I can find my way back."

Ray was already in motion. "Greatness." He went to the auto-doc and pressed a few buttons. "OK, kid. Here's the rules. No shooting unless we have to. We've got an injured Major and that means stealth as much as possible."

Rya'c nodded reluctantly. Ray grinned.

"Good. We're doneski." He made his way to the center of the ship's small hold, cradling the small blond officer in his arms. Rya'c stood next to him, zat at the ready.

"Let's get at 'er." Ray said softly. Metal rings stacked up around the three of them and they disappeared in a glimmer of light.

There was a moment of silence, followed by the sound of flesh rubbing against cloth. A suave and rich voice murmured****

**Illya, why _are_**** you wearing that shoulder holster anyway?**

A somewhat breathless Russian tenor responded.****

**You are always welcome to remove it, Napasha, if it truly offends you.**

Napoleon laughed as he stood, dragging Illya up with him. He wrapped his hands around the arm straps of the leather holster and pulled Illya in close.****

**Uh huh. You would just love that, wouldn't you? Sneaky Russian.**

The two men kissed. As they began to fad e away****

**Of course I'm sneaky, Napoleon. I _am_**** a spy, remember?**


	7. Killing Time

Jack was officially having the worst day.

Moby Vosk had taken off, probably to torment Daniel some more. Or maybe to shoot Carter again, Jack couldn't tell. The entire cadre of Jaffa surrounding him and Teal'c were clearly riding the ragged edge of hysteria and if there was one thing worse than having Jaffa point weapons at him, it was freaked out Jaffa pointing weapons at him.

Jack was sure he was going to fart and they would blast him by accident.

"Sure you guys don't have Scrabble or something?" He said, more out of needling reflex than anything else.

No one replied.

"I'm just _asking_." he breathed, rolling his eyes.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Fraser found the cell where Oric claimed Dr. Jackson was being held. Two guards stood in front, so the information seemed to be good.

Fraser waited.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Oric surveyed the empty slave pen with satisfaction. The Tauri female must not have been badly hurt after all. Truly, SG-1 was a formidable team. He keyed the ship's all-levels frequency.

"The slaves are escaping. Jaffa to the holding pens! Kree!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Yes!" Jack crowed.

None of the staff wielding Jaffa moved.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Daniel was becoming inured to the frequent crackling of zat bolts against the force field. He'd even managed to stop blinking when they impacted in front of his face. His captor was playing with him, he knew, so he was back to staying as neutral as possible.

This didn't go over well after a while, which was exactly what Daniel had hoped.

The huge jailer lumbered forward.

"Enough playing with toys, little man." He put a hand on the electronics panel to the right of the cell. Daniel felt his energy coil. __

_One shot, just one shot. C'mon._

The shimmering, humming wall around Daniel's cell blinked out of existence just as the green eyes looked up at a sudden announcement about escaping slaves.

Daniel took the opportunity to rush him. Throwing all his weight forward, shoulder out and head down, Daniel impacted the Great White Jaffa just under his floating rib, aiming to take out the solar plexus.

It was a beautiful tackle. Jack would have been proud. There was one problem. None of that heft was fat. Daniel crashed into a wall of muscle shoulder-first and bounced. He landed on his ass, his shoulder sore and wrenched.

Vosk staggered backwards a few steps, crashing into a wall. He looked at Daniel for a moment, and then laughed heartily, great guffaws erupting from his belly and rolling through his throat. After a moment he looked down and his laughter dwindled until it was just that creepy slow smile. He watched Daniel shake his head briskly and look up, eyes wide behind his glass lenses.

"That was well done, little Tauri." Vosk boomed. Terrifyingly, Daniel realized it was actually a sincere compliment. He put one giant hand down and grasped the front of Daniel's shirt. He lifted the shaken man with no apparent effort. "Back in your cage now. I have work to do."

Daniel registered air under his feet and then he was flying backwards, slamming into the wall. His head impacted with the metal of the ship and pain crackled through him like lightning. He had been flung with enough force to knock the rest of his wind out of his lungs and he was close to concussion land, consciousness fading. Worse, through the haze of pain, he realized that Vosk had actually pulled his throw.

Vosk restarted the force field. He paused as though he would deliver one more stinging, smug comment, then just smiled again and walked out of the room.

"Watch him." Daniel heard his own personal Satan making sure the reeling doctor would still be around to torture when he was finished disemboweling someone.

Anyone, from the sound of his voice.

Daniel choked, sucking in air, and tried desperately to stay awake. He was beginning to feel like a chew-toy. He mentally promised any passing deity that might happen to be in the general vicinity that he'd never, ever ridicule any of Jack's stupid ideas again if O'Neill would just show the fuck up with one of them. Preferably, he added, before the very large nutcase came back.

Whatever crazy scheme Jack was working on this time, Daniel was all for it.


	8. NotJack

Ray and Rya'c made good time. The Gate room was relatively close to the empty storeroom they had parked over and used as a ring site. Rya'c recognized some detail of the ship that was, frankly, incomprehensible to Ray. Without Shirt's understanding of basic mother ship layout and the extra-cool mapping thingy on the scout ship, Ray would never have come back from his first mission. Everything the snakes made looked exactly the same to him.

The frantic call for Jaffa came over the ship's intercom just as they got to the Gate room, Ray cradling Carter closely against his chest. Holding her this way her weight wouldn't impede his leg movement.

"Knock." Ray whispered, but a flicker of movement down the hall caught their attention and they abandoned communication in favor of cover. They ducked into the Gate room, Ray hoping fervently that no one would shoot them from their own side.

It was close. As soon as Rya'c came through the door, Seleen and Dion were next to him, zats at the ready.

"Whoa, whoa!" Ray shouted. "Good guys, here!" The zats lowered.

"Reii-An." Seleen came striding forward, Dion shadowing her. "Your companion went to rescue the Tauri. We have been waiting for his return."

"Yeah, well, you're done waiting." Ray brought Major Carter over to a nook, sheltered slightly behind the Gate itself. He laid her down gently, indicating with a sharp jerk of his head that Rya'c should stay with her.

Ray cocked his head, looked at Seleen and Dion, lifting an eyebrow. "Hey. You guysÉuhÉ joining our gang? We could always use the help."

The couple broke into smiles, nodding their assent.

"Coolness. Great. Yeah. Now we're cookin'." Ray went to squat next to Rya'c. "Stay down. We're gonna go help get your dad. Anybody comes in here, stay hidden until they leave."

"I owe you a great debt, Ray." Rya'c was channeling his dad again. Ray had no problem with the straight face this time. He was startled - mildly - to find he would miss the kid.

Then Shir whispered in the back of his head and he smacked himself in the head sharply.

"Um...hey. I know I said that you can call me Ray...and I meant it, kid, you know? But...uh...when you tell your dad about us...you know...all that stuff I told you?...yeah...you better refer to me as Luke Skywalker again." he sighed. "And Frase had better be called 'Han Solo.'"

He grinned at an uncomprehending Rya'c, "It's not original, I grant you, but it'll have to do."

Rya'c looked completely mystified.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but...we kinda need to not be known...back there...where your dad lives now...on Earth...is this making any sense?"

Rya'c still looked stumped, but he gave a little Jaffa salute, fist over heart, and said, "I will not reveal your names to the Tauri if that is your wish."

"Good. Greatness. OK." He helped Rya'c pull nearby pieces of cargo around to form a barricade then covered the top with a loose cover he found in a corner. "Stay down."

Satisfied that the Major and the kid were as hidden as they could be, Ray turned to his new recruits. "Dion, stay with the kid. Keep your head down and don't be seen unless you have to, you know, shoot someone. Seleen, you're with me."

He grinned at them, sharp and feral, pulling his own zat out and opening it up. They grinned back.

"All right, people. " Ray said happily. "Let's kick some ass."

**--------------------**

Fraser gave Vosk a good minute to get into the lift before sending a single zat beam into each guard. He didn't really have too much choice, since Trev'van was raging to get to the sadistic Jaffa and it took everything Fraser had just to stand still. Once the guards were down he dragged them into the room one by one, ignoring the startled Dr. Jackson.

Daniel was dimly aware of the sound of zat fire bled though the door. __

_It's about fucking time, Jack._

He tried to pry his eyes open, succeeding with an enormous effort. A tall man with dark hair dragged one of the guards in. __

_What the fuck?_

_That_ was most definitely _not_ Jack, even if they both were skulking around Goa'uld ships dressed all in black.

This guy was ridiculously attractive. Daniel got a glimpse of a pale complexion and model-worthy cheekbones before the guy disappeared into the hallway again. Jack wasÉwell, Daniel had never thought about it. Jack was a good-looking guy. But this guyÉhe was drop-dead gorgeous.

Whoa...concussion land.

Daniel wondered if maybe he'd hit the wall harder than he thought. These were not thoughts he generally entertained about other men. He tried to stand, but his stomach immediately rebelled and he sank back onto his bench, cradling his head.

He could hear the second guard being dragged in. He made another laborious and painful attempt to see his savior. Standing straight up, aiming his zat at the force field controls, was a freaking Adonis. Just the most incredibly fucking beautiful man Daniel had ever seen. Broad shoulders and deep blue eyes, a mouth that

Head-trauma. Yes. That was it.

And..._ow_...pain...and nausea...

Not-Jack shot the control panel twice, shorting out the field, then went back to the pile of guard he had made by the room's far wall.

He bent down and picked up both guards' zats, then turned and looked at Daniel for the first time.

"Dr. Jackson, I presume?" His eyes were intensely blue and grave, almost challenging. His voice was smooth and rich, rendering the most overused line ever into a deadpan joke with way too many overtones. __

_Chocolaty,_ Daniel thought; _his voice is like chocolate._

Daniel made a small noise, somewhere between a moan and a yelp. He regretted it immediately as the world got darker. He opened his mouth to ask Not-Jack if he had an actual name.

The question never happened because Not-Jack cocked his head to the side and held up a hand. A second or two later, Daniel could hear the ringing of Jaffa boots approaching down the hall. They stopped in front of the room and the door opened. A vaguely familiar man came sneaking in. Not-Jack had him against a wall with a zat to his head almost faster than Daniel could see.

Wow.

So big and yet so fast.

Not-Jack could move like...well...

Like Jack.

"Oric?" Not-Jack said, his rich voice sounding taken aback.

Daniel wanted to know more about not-Jack, and he wanted to go find Jack and break him and Teal'c out and he wanted to go find Carter who had been shot in the leg. And he really, _really_ wanted to get out of this room. But the overwhelming urge to pass out hit right about then and he faded to black.


	9. Men, Myths, and Legends

"That room is tighter than my grandma at Christmas." Ray said under his breath to Seleen, eyeing the four guards outside the Communications room. "I mean, four? Don't you think that's a little excessive? What is this, Fort Knox?"

"Reii-An?" Seleen inquired.

Ray shook his head. "S'not important. Vosk said he was going to hold them here, so we gotta figure a way to divert them"

"Shoot them?" Seleen asked, fingering her zat.

"...without them holing up and sealing our guys in there with 'em." he finished.

Seleen gave a little shrug.

Ray backed up a little and looked around. Something...there had to be...something... some way to get into that room.**__**

**_Subterfuge._** Shir piped up suddenly and Ray cocked his head as they went back and forth with ideas. One thing he loved about his Lady; she was one sneaky bitch.

"Yeah." he chewed over the new plan. "That could work."

He looked at Seleen and grinned. "Shir'll call 'em out. You distract 'em"

"Shoot them?" Seleen asked again.

"...sure, you could do that, Miss One Track Mind. And when enough of them are down, I'm betting that there Colonel type guy and his big Jaffa friend will take over." his feral smile flashed out at her. "From what I hear, they kinda got a rep for that sort of thing."

Seleen nodded. "That sounds like a workable plan, Reii-An."

Ray's com clicked. "What, Frase?" he heard the edge of irritation in his voice, but couldn't help it. The Lar'raan Reii were built for invisible strikes at Goa'uld mother ships, not for prolonged and multi-person hostage situations. This mission had dragged on for far too long already and Fraser probably wanted to save some Jaffa while they were here.

"I have a problem, Ray."

Ray's heart stopped.

"What, what, you shot? What's going on?"

"No, Ray, no." Fraser hastily reassured him, "It's not me. Dr. Jackson has a severe concussion and is lapsing in and out of consciousness. I'm taking him back to the Stargate."

"Don't sweat it, Frase." Ray relaxed. Even half a ship apart, the old duet, the Fraser 'n Ray one-two punch was in effect. "I'm at the Comm room. You get the Doctor to the Gate and we'll get the others. Dion's there with Major Carter and the kid. Don't...don't wait for me, Frase." Ray added, realizing that this could be a very good plan, given half a chance.

"Don't be silly, Ray."

"No, freak, I mean at the Gate. I mean...drop the doctor off and you and Dion get back to the ship. Seleen will bring these guys to the Gate - " he caught Seleen's eye "- and I'm going to cause a ruckus and distract any and all Jaffa I can. I think it'd be a very good idea to get the engines running. Y'know, just in case we got Jaffa on our tails right until we ring out."

"What are you planning, Ray?" Fraser sounded suspicious.

"Not now, Fraser." Ray cut him off. "We gotta go before everyone gets back to work. Get the doc to the gate, pronto and wait for me in the car."

"Ship, Ray."

"Yeah. I knew that."

**--------------------------**

Jack was going to kill something very, very soon. He was worried about Carter and her leg. Staging a jailbreak on a bum leg was murder. He was also worried about Daniel, but that way led to madness and bad decisions, so he tried not to think about it more than he had to. Unfortunately, thanks to the images Creepy Guy had put into his head, he kept feeling like he had to.

It was becoming a trifle disconcerting.

The worst thing of all, though, the absolute suckiest part of the whole thing?

Jack was deeply bored.

Carter had managed to create a diversion and not one of these pissant Jaffa was following the plan. If even one or two of them would have the decency, the fucking balls to at least try to look for Carter, he and Teal'c could take the rest. But there were still six Jaffa in the room and who knew how many standing just outside the door.

He was good and Teal'c was good, but neither of them was that good.

"Jaffa." A gravelly snake-touched voice sounded in the hall.

"Now what?" Jack bitched at the nearest Jaffa, the little whiny one. He was looking even more scared than he had before. All the guards were.

"The God is here?" one said, visibly quaking in his little metal Jaffa boots.

They heard tramping leading away from the door. Jack and Teal'c exchanged looks.__

_The door guards are leaving, O'Neill_

_Yeah, I heard. We still got six here, though. Wait for it, big guy._

There was a moment of silence. None of the Jaffa looked like they had exhaled anytime recently. They were actually all looking a little bit purple now.

"Jaffa!" the imperious voice rang out again. It sounded like a female Goa'uld. "Attend the God, Jaffa! Kree!"

"Yeah, yeah. 'Kree.' We've heard that before." Jack looked disgusted. "Do you people even have any other words?"

"That is not our God." One of the Jaffa was listening hard, a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, speaking from my experience, " Jack said blandly, "They're pretty much interchangeable."

"Jaffa!" The Goa'uld spoke a third time and there was much shifting and muttering among the Jaffa guards. "Attend the Goddess Idun. We are displeased with your laziness and sloth. Is this how you honor your God and his much beloved guest?"

Jack started to get that feeling. That "something is fishy here" feeling.

This time, however, he liked it.

"I need...warriors to replace the door guards. I have taken those to be my hands while I am on board."

All of the Jaffa were quaking now. Jack could see their dilemma; piss off the God or piss off the Great White. He could see how that's be a tough call.

Still, you had to love the odds if he could get only two Jaffa against him and Teal'c.

"Attend Idun, Jaffa! Now!"

Four Jaffa started for the door. They'd just cleared the doorway when the distinctive sound of zat fire started. The remaining two Jaffa whirled around, but Jack hit the whiny one and Teal'c hit the aggressive one and then Jack took out the one guy that tried to get back into the room for good measure. He headed out the door, Teal'c right behind him.

Standing over a veritable pile of twitching Jaffa was stocky platinum blond with a zat in each hand. They stared at her.

"Nice shootin', Tex." Jack muttered. The blonde smiled even as she started down the hallway.

"Come. We have no time. The Reii-An is distracting the other Jaffa, drawing them away from us, but they will not be fooled for long. Come now."

They fell into step with her, hauling ass down the bronze metal corridor.

"Does the Tok'Ra have a ship?" Jack panted. "Where'd he...she...it come from?"

The blond woman didn't answer. Behind them they could hear zat fire.

"Daniel." Jack said just as Teal'c said, "Rya'c." Both men stopped short.

"We gotta find 'em." Jack ordered. Their unknown ally turned, but kept running in the same direction. She ran backwards several steps, hissing at them.

"They are at the Stargate. We are the last. Hurry." they started after her again. She threw herself into the lift, motioning impatiently for them to hurry. "The Reii-An is putting himself in danger for our sakes. We must not lose time."

"Who is this Ray Ann guy - chick - whatever?" Jack asked. That name was beginning to get on his nerves.

There was no answer as the lift stopped and the woman hurtled out and headed for the Gate room.

Teal'c leaned forward. "I do not believe we are getting the entire tale, O'Neill."

"The whole story." Jack said in a low voice. "Yeah. I'm getting that feeling as well."

They sped after her, peering around as soon as they entered the room. There was no one there. The woman was uncovering a largish stack of boxes in the corner.

"Where's the rest of my team?"

The woman pulled away the boxes to reveal a very groggy Daniel, and an unconscious Carter.

"Father!" "Rya'c!" Rya'c stepped forward, looking strangely adult. He and his father clasped hands and then broke into a short but fierce hug.

Jack went over to his people, checking them out. A bolt of fear went through him at the sight of Daniel's disorientation. He squatted down next to Daniel, hesitated for a moment, and then started rubbing his shoulder.

"Hey, Danny." he said lightly. "What did you do to yourself this time?"

Daniel squinted up at him. His look was unfocused, but not traumatized or broken. Jack's stomach began to unclench and something spiky and dirty loosed itself from his lungs. He raised his voice. "Dial us home, Teal'c. We need to get these two to Janet as soon as possible."

Daniel winced at the volume. "I just hit my head, Jack. I'll be fine."

"Hey, don't look at me. You're the one that keeps getting the crap kicked out of you."

Daniel looked around, unsteady. Jack helped him to his feet, where he peered at them as if he thought he would see something different if he just kept looking. He was looking around the Gate room like there was something essential missing.

The blond woman was at the door, checking for enemies. "The Reii-An fixed the woman's leg. She will sleep for a while, then she will wake."

"Who or what is this Ray Ann?" Jack asked. He tried to keep the anger in check, but it had been a really long and monumentally crappy day and there was no way he was going to keep his cool if she said the name Ray Ann one freaking more time. "If she's fighting the Goa'uld, we would like to talk to her, maybe we could become allies."

"I must go. They are waiting." she started through the door.

"Wait." Jack could hear the Stargate engaging, and Teal'c was no doubt triggering his GDO. The big Jaffa began moving over to pick up Carter. They had no time left. "We're allies with the Tok'Ra. They can come through to our base. We don't leave people behind."

He flicked a glance at Teal'c, who was staring at the woman Ñ no, Jack realized, turning back around. He was staring at the door. The woman had taken off.

Whatever. Both time and the wormhole were a'wastin' and they were still on a Goa'uld mother ship headed up by a mutant Jaffa psycho. Time to get the kids home.

"Teal'c, take Carter. I'll help Daniel. C'mon, Rya'c, let's go."

Rya'c plunged through the Gate with one last look back at his father. Jack got Daniel's arm over his shoulders and began to drag him toward the Gate. Daniel still had that look, that I've-lost-something look, but he was putting his feet down and moving.

Teal'c was still immobilized, staring at the door, Carter small and pale in his arms.

"The Lar'raan Reii are a myth." he said softly.

"Teal'c!" Jack yelled. "Get over here!" No response. "Teal'c!"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, clearly perturbed, but started moving towards the wormhole.

"Yeah, I'm lost, too." Jack told him, projecting as much urgency as he could. "But we've got to get Carter and Daniel back. They need a doctor. We'll unravel this whole thing out back at the SGC."

Teal'c gave a short nod and swept through the Gate, taking the Major with him.

Daniel was mumbling something about...Adonis?

_What the fuck?_

Jack ignored him and pushed through the Gate.

Time to go home.


	10. Doneski

Ray fired around the corner.

"Ray, let me just..."

"_No_, Fraser." Ray said shortly. "N. O. You stay put. I'm right near the place. Seleen's on the way. You come down here and everything that can go wrong, _will_. I _know_ you. You have this... " He ducked a shot and retreated a step or two further down the hall. " ..._thing_...this...whatchacallit...this _aura_, this fucking _zone_ around you."

He fired without looking and kept talking.

"Shit just goes _wacky_ when you show up."

"That's not very nice, Ray."

"Fraser, just _stay_ in the goddamned _ship_, okay?" Ray clicked off the comm and fired a bunch of blasts at the Jaffa he couldn't see.

A hand touched his shoulder and he almost punched Seleen, flailing about madly with the velocity of his aborted blow.

"Do NOT do that," he hissed and ducked zat fire again. "Do NOT sneak up on a guy who's being shot at. It's not cool, it's not right, it's not _buddies_." Seleen looked abashed.

"Many apologies, Reii-An."

"Forget about it." Ray nodded his chin at a storeroom door. "Get in there. I'll cover." He took out a second zat and began firing continuously with both hands as Seleen raced to the storeroom they were using as a ring site. Ray followed close behind and within seconds they had reached the relatively safe haven of the scout ship.

Dion was already strapped into one of the two rear hold seats. He made a pleased noise when he saw Seleen.

"Welcome to the Lullaby, Seleen. She's not big, but she's pretty and she runs good. And she can cloak like a motherfucker." Ray tossed his zat into a corner and went forward, sliding wearily into the pilot seat. " Sit down, have a drink. Make yourself at home."

Seleen kissed Dion quickly and strapped herself into the other rear hold chair.

Ray didn't look at Fraser as he began lifting the tiny, cloaked ship slowly up, peeling away from the skin of the mother ship. He could feel Fraser's anger and he knew he'd been harsh, but Fraser was being even more pissy and controlling than usual. He didn't know why, either. **__**

**_You should talk to him._** Shir said in his head. **_Talk to him soon, Ray._**

**_I will, Lady._** Ray muttered. Fraser with a bug up his ass...?

As they peeled away from the mother ship, however, his mood lightened. It usually did at this point in a caper. It was doneski, now. Finished. Over. In this gig, at the end of the day, if they didn't die, they had won. They were safe, the snakes had lost another round, and they'd picked up some fresh blood for the officer pool of this little cozy little underground they had going here. Ray grinned as the sheer joy of being alive and kicking ass settled into his bones. He could feel Fraser getting more riled by the second and that made him grin hard and _get_ harder.

Ray was getting laid tonight, oh yeah.

"So that was the infamous SG-1 we keep hearing about." Ray said casually.

Thwarted in his attempt at telepathic bitching, Fraser replied coolly, "It would seem so, Ray."

Ray's grin widened. He loved spiking Benton Fraser's guns. Ben would inevitably want to freeze Ray out right about now, but his insane politeness obsession simply wouldn't let him NOT respond to conversation. Ray would get him talking and when they landed he would take Fraser into his mouth and into his body and remind him that they were alive, that they'd won. Again.

Life was sweet.

"Nice bunch. We'll have to run into them again some time."

"I'm fairly certain we will, Ray." Fraser paused and looked out the front view screen as Ray prepared to go to hyper. As the stars disappeared he looked back at his partner.

"It almost seems inevitable."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

"What the hell happened, Colonel?"

General George Hammond, Commanding Officer of Stargate Command watched the medical teams swarm around his returning team.

"Well, sir," Jack said grimly. "There's the good news and the bad news."

"What's the good news, Colonel?"

"We've got some kind of new player in the game. Not real sure who they are yet, but they're _damned_ effective. They seem to be Tok'Ra of some sort. And they really, _really_ seem to hate the Goa'uld."

"That is good news." Hammond nodded, and then asked warily, "What's the bad news?"

"There's also a new player on the Goa'uld front. New system lord, by the sound of it. And he's got the biggest, craziest, most..."

"Colonel!" Dr. Janet Frasier interrupted Jack. They were wheeling Daniel out and he wasn't making a whole hell of a lot of sense. Jack ran to catch up, the General following close behind. "He keeps asking about someone, Colonel." Dr. Frasier said softly, "But we can't make it out."

Jack fell into place next to the wheeling gurney. "Hey, Daniel. What's up?"

Daniel's blue eyes flickered open and he looked at Jack with a strange heat. Daniel's soft blue eyes, unfocused and unfamiliar, locked onto Jack with a look full of desire and promise. It shook Jack, literally rocked him for a moment, as he saw a seductive stranger peering out of his best friend's eyes.

Recognition seemed to come over Daniel then, and his look changed. Totally unexpectedly, he blushed. A full, fiery red suffused his cheeks and he closed his eyes.

Jack stopped and watched the gurney roll toward the medical wing. He knew something had just happened, but he was at a loss as to what it was. He felt off-balance, his world changed somehow. He could feel General Hammond looking at him.

"My office, Colonel. Ten minutes." The General walked off.

Jack was left standing in the concrete hall of the SGC, feeling like something key had shifted, like he was missing something very important. And the only thing he knew for certain was - this wasn't over.

Not by a long shot.

**end**

Author's Note: Please Read/Review!!

Watch for Maintain The Right #3: **_Shelter_******


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